''The Westland Case'' is a 1937 American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by

Christy Cabanne William Christy Cabanne (April 16, 1888 – October 15, 1950) was an American film director, screenwriter, and silent film actor. Biography Born in 1888, Cabanne (pronounced CAB-a-nay) started his career on stage as an actor and director. He a ...

and starring

Preston Foster Preston Stratton Foster (August 24, 1900 – July 14, 1970), was an American actor of stage, film, radio, and television, whose career spanned nearly four decades. He also had a career as a vocalist. Early life Born in Ocean City, New Jersey ...

Frank Jenks Frank Jenks (November 4, 1902 – May 13, 1962) was an acid-voiced American supporting actor of stage and films. Biography Early years Jenks was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and his mother gave him a trombone when he was 9 years old. By his ...

, and Carol Hughes.

Cast

as Bill Crane *

as Doc Williams * Carol Hughes as Emily Lou Martin *

Barbara Pepper Barbara Pepper (born Marion Pepper; May 31, 1915 – July 18, 1969) was an American stage, television, radio, and film actress. She is best known as the first Doris Ziffel on the sitcom '' Green Acres''. Early life and career Marion Pepper ...

as Agatha Hogan * Astrid Allwyn as Bentine * Clarence Wilson as Charlie Frazee *

Theodore Von Eltz Theodore von Eltz (November 5, 1893 – October 6, 1964) was an American film actor, appearing in more than 200 films between 1915 and 1957. He was the father of actress Lori March. Von Eltz was a Yale University professor's son. After 12 ...

as Robert Westland *

George Meeker George Meeker (March 5, 1904 – August 19, 1984) was an American character film and Broadway actor. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Meeker made several films such as ''Crime, Inc.'' (1945) and ''A Thief in the Dark'' (1 ...

as Richard Bolston * Russell Hicks as Woodbury * Selmer Jackson as Warden

Production

In 1937,

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

made a deal with

the Crime Club ''The Crime Club'' was an imprint of the Doubleday publishing company, which later spawned a 1946-47 anthology radio series, and a 1937-1939 film series. Literature Many classic and popular works of detective and mystery fiction had their fi ...

who published whodunnit novels. Universal were granted the right to select four of their yearly published novels to adapt into films. The unit responsible for these films was producer

Irving Starr Irving Starr (1905–1982) was an American film producer.Hischak p.244 He worked for a number of studios including MGM, Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures, generally employed on lower-budget films. Later in his career he also worked in tele ...

. Eleven films were made in the series between 1937 and 1939. ''The Westland Case'' was the first in the series and was based on the

Jonathan Latimer Jonathan Wyatt Latimer (October 23, 1906 – June 23, 1983) was an American crime writer known his novels and screenplays. Before becoming an author, Latimer was a journalist in Chicago. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Illinois, L ...

novel '' Headed for a Hearse''. The first films in the series featured

as Bill Crane and

as Doc Williams were cast as the wisecracking New York city detectives. These characters would appear in two other films in the series: ''

The Lady in the Morgue ''The Lady in the Morgue'' (1936) is one of the novels by Jonathan Latimer featuring private detective William Crane. The lady of the title is a female corpse which is stolen from a Chicago morgue before the dead woman's identity can be establish ...

'' and ''

The Last Warning ''The Last Warning'' is a 1928 American mystery film directed by Paul Leni, and starring Laura La Plante, Montagu Love, and Margaret Livingston. ''The Last Warning'' was also one of the very last silent films Universal made — except it was a ...

''.

Release

''The Westland Case'' was released on October 31, 1937.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* * * American mystery films Films directed by Christy Cabanne 1937 mystery films 1937 films American black-and-white films Universal Pictures films 1930s American films {{mystery-film-stub